Typewriting machine



J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING MACHINE Dec. 10, 1929.`

Original Filed Jan. l2. 1925 /m/enfor:

Patented Dec. I, 1929 UNITED STATES JESSE A. B. SMITH, OE STANFORD,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR 10 UNDERWOOD ELLIOTT PATENT i orificel FISHERCOMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N.` Y., A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE TYPEWRITINGMACHINE This-invention relates to typewriting machines of the varietyset forth in the patent to Wernery and Smith, No. 1,132,055, dated March16, `1915, in which work-sheets or printed forms may be fed to themachine in succession as elements of a fan-fold web, which may be ledinto the machine and passed downwardly, forwardly, and up around therevoluble platen, and in which carbons may be interleaved between theelements of the fan-fold web or between the loose plies of otherwork-webs. As disclosed in said patent, the platen is displaceable topermit the webs to be straightened out, so that the carbons may bereadily shifted back along the plies of web to unused portions thereof.

In using this machine to turn out a variety ot' work, it is sometimesdesired to have assembled, ready for'immediate use, a plurality offan-fold webs with a plurality ,of carbon-carriers, so that typewritingcan be done upon either set of webs, at will, and, for this purpose, ithas been the practice to provide carbon-carriers which are readilydetachable from the machine,'so that, when it is desired to stop typingon one set of webs, it may be removed from the machine, together withthe associated carbon-carrier, and the other carbon-carrier with theother set of webs may be placed in the machine to receive the typing.

In this invention means are provided to facilitate writing alternatelyupon each of a plurality of web sets having sectional forms defined bytransverse perforated lines, and especially upon two webs which aresimultaneously fed around the platen of the machine in fan-fold form.

According to the present invention, a widecarriage machine may bereadily adapted,

Vwith little or no alteration thereof, to use two webs which may be keptin the machine side by side, and-which may be typed upon alternately, orone of which may be used while the other is left idle.

A feature of the present invention is the provision of means readilyapplicable to a carbon-ca1rier of standard construction withoutnecessitating any changes thereon, to enable said'carbon-carrier toaccommodate two i Original Aapplication filed January 12, 1925, SerialNo. 1,755. Divided and this application ld November 16, 1927.

serial No. 233,560.

separate sets of fan-folded webs for use, side by side, in a typewritingmachine.

For this purpose, carbon-holding blades of various lengths are provided,said blades being supported onlyat the .ends of the carbon-'carrier andsome of said blades extending `substantially across the entire length ofThe two parallel work-webs, having a plurality of plies, are inserted inthe machine by interleaving the plies of the web with carbon-sheetsfastened to co-operatin carbonpaper clips. The leading edges ci the twowebs are fed over a rear table, then down around the platen to engagewith co-operating feed-rolls and up in front of the platen over a fronttable.4 One of the work-webs may then be ty ed upon and line-spaced stepconstruction can be used for two adjaby step. The p aten is then swungforwardly in the ordinary way to straighten out the webs, and to draw upthe active web to its corresponding leading-edge gage; of whlch thereare two, one for each work-web, so that the carbon-sheets interleaving'the typed or active web may be backed up into a new portion covering afresh section of said web. In order to move the carbon-sheetsrearwardly, it will be necessary to hold the leading edge of the typedor active web against the gage, otherwise the friction .of thecarbon-sheets against the leaves of the web would move'the web along tothe rear when the carbon-car-A riage and the carbon-sheets are movedbackwardly.

It will be noted Vthat both the idle and the active webs aresimultaneously line-spaced whiletyping upon the active web. When thetyping upon the active web is completed, the platen is displaced, andthe leadmg edge of the active web is drawn up to if s correspond- '5 tothe friction of the paper-clips and carbonsheets interleaving the pliesof the web. It will be noted also that while the carbons are retractedthe active web is held with one hand against the gage while the idle webis left free to follow the 'carbons.

When the platen is lowered to-its normal or eective position, theleading edge of the idle web has a tendency to shift out of place, and,in order to control the web whilethe platen is moved, there is provideda clamp to effectively hold the webs against the table. p

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 1,755, iledJanuary l2, 1925, now Patent No. 1,653,025, dated December 20, 1927.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. 1

Inl the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a-perspective view of a fanfold machine with the inventionapplied ther'eto. y i Figure 2 is a -diagrammatical view of thework-webs shown in connection withithe carbon-carrying frame having endsupports 30 only.- l f Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view in eleva.-

. tion showing the carbon-carriage in its rearward position with theplaten-frame swung forwardly in its displaced position.

In the Underwood fan-fold'typewriting machine, a platen is journaled inaswing frame which includes end journaled to a front sha 13, extendingacross the platen-carriage, so that the platen may be swung forwardly inline with the work-web on thevfan-fold tablefand clear of the feed-rolls14 and 15 which' usually cooperate with the platen for feeding theworkweb in line-space direction. The platen is shown geared to theline-space mechanism,

' which includes a line-space lever 16, by means of pinions 17 fast onthe axle 18 of the platen,

said pinions meshing with idlers 19 on the front "shaft 13, whichidlers, in turn, mesh with "pinions 20 fast on the shafts 21 which carryfinger-wheels 22 for operating the platen, and are ournaled inplaten-frames 23.

The platen-carriage is mounted' upon rails including the rail 24 and isfed along in the usual manner whenever any type-bar 25 rises to printupon a work-sheet passed around the platen. The fan-fold machine alsousually includes a rear extension of the carriage having rails 27-and28, upon which a carbon-carriage 30 is-adapted to be reciprocated by ahandle 31. Said rear extension also includes a cross-bar 29 connectingthe rails 27 and 28, which support the cross-bar 33 over which theinitially fan-folded complemental webs 34 65 and 3.5 are drawn past thecarbon-carriage 30 lates lland 12, A

and under the platen and up over the front` table 40. For supportingtherear extension there may be provided wheels 26 operatively vmountedupon a rail 39 fast upon a rearoperatively guide the carriage 30 on therails 27 and 28.

. Vhen the work-webs 34 and 35 are initially fed to the machine,'theyare passed over the rear cross-bar 33, between paper-guides 41 and 42,and between carbon-finger-carrying frames or mounts 43 on thecarbon-carriage 30,' the webs being interleaved with carbonsheets 30a.lVith the leading edges of each web in alignment, the webs'are insertedbetween the knife and the platen, when the latter is in its displacedposition, so that a considerable portion of each web will extendforwardly therefrom, and, when the platen is returned to its normal oreffective position, the leading edges will be above the knife. Theplaten is then reversely rotated to simultaneously back-feed bothwebsuntil the leading edges thereof coincide with the cutting edge of theknife, when typing upon either web can 'take place.

Supporting guides 45 and 47 are detachably mounted upon the front table40, and slidably and adjustably mounted upon the guides are leading-edgegages44 and 46 respectively, one for each web.

While the necessary data is being typed upon one of the webs, 34 forexample, and line-spaced, it will be understood that the other orinactive web 35 will also be linespaced.-

Aftertyping the data, the platen is swung forwardly to straighten outthe webs, by releasing the latch 48, so that the carbon-sheets 30ainterleaving the active web may be backed up into a fresh section of theweb. Since it is customary to write but a few lines on each web, it veryseldom occurs that the leading edge is `fully line-spaced to itscorresponding gage. With the platen in its displaced position, theleading edge of the active web is therefore brought up to its gage, saidweb moving relatively to the interleaved carbonsheets. In ,order t'owithdraw the carbonsheets, the leading edge of the active web is heldwith one hand against the gage while the carbon-carriage is movedrearwardly to the stop 83 by pushing the handle 31. While the carbonsare moved rearwardly, the idle web is also moved along due tothefriction of the cai-bons against the several plies-of the web, the idleweb being free to move along with the carbons while the active web isheld during the displacing of the carbons. The carbon-carriage stop 83is so positioned'that when the carriage is brought up to said stop, theleading edge 64 of the inactiveweb will project beyondthe knife 67, asshown in Figure` 3. Furthermore, the leading-edge gage 44 1s so adjustedthat when the active web is pulled up thereto, the perforations of the'to the leading-edge gage will be greater than a sectional printed formof a ply by the distance the leading edge of the inactive web projectsbeyond the knife.

In order that, when the-platen is lowered toits normal or effectiveposition, the webs may not be accidentally shifted out of place, thereis provided a clamp designed to hold the webs fast against the fronttable 40. Said clamp including a cross-bar 49 pivotally mounted upon theshaft 13 by means of brackets 50 which form an integral part of saidclamp and are rotatably held on the shaft 13-by means of pins 5l. Theclamp is provided with a pin 52 which forms an integral part of a handle53-for operating the same, and the pin cooperates with a latch 54pivotally mountedupon the frame 12 at 55 and is held by a spring 56against a pin 57 A also fast to the frame 12. As shown in the drawingsthe clamp is provided with means whereby websof dierent thicknesses maybe eil'ectively clamped, said means including a plurality of resilientplugs 585 fast to the' cross-bar 49 and a iexible piece 59 connectingthe clamp and the latching means. The latch 54 is opera-ble by forcingthe same rearwardly away from the pin 52 to release the clamp. kIt willbe noted that the leading edge 64 of the idle web is shown displacedrelatively to the leading edge 65 of the active web, the latter beingheld when displacing the carbons, while the former ispermltted to moverearwardly with the` carbons. The clamp is moved to its effectiveposition by lifting the handle 53 from its Figure 3 position, until thepin 524 engages the latch 54 and resiliently holds the webs clampedagainst the table 40. The platen is then thrown backwardly to a positionas shown Vin Figure l in which the usual pin engages the latch 48 andholds the platen against the feed-rolls. The latch 54 is then releasedby forcing the same rearwardly 'so that the clamp may be swung forwardlyto a position as shown in Figure l.l To bring the aligned leading edgeof the inactive web and the bottom perforated line of the typedsectional form of the active web against the cutting edge of the knife,the platen is rotated in a reverse direction to back-feed both webssimultaneously, whereupon, the typed signed, in the preferred form, tobe detacht ably mounted upon the carbon-carriage 3Q,

To this end there is provided an adapter' V plate 69 which is secured tothe carriage 30 by means of the regular clamps 70 engaging slots 71 inpins 72 which form an integral part of the plate 69 and fit into holes 73 in the carriage 30.

According to the present invention, the

two sets of webs in themachine are provided with interleaved carbons,carried by a carbon-carrier so constructed that the stock parts intheregular fan-fold machine can be used with little or no alterationthereof. r1`he carbon-carrier has alternately disposed long and shortcarbon-clips or blades respectively numbered 89 and 90, both kinds ofclips being fastened at the regular outer supports or frames 43 andhaving no support in the center. The two end supports arefast to theplate 69, as on the standard carbon-carrier and which is in turnattached to the carriage 30 in the regular manner. rIlhe sets of wensare fed between the outer supports and some of the carbon-clipsextend'from one of the end supports entirely across the adjacent web forproviding the other web with interleaved carbons, so that by properarrangement of the long and short carbon-clips, a stock carbon-carriermay be used. For guiding the inner edges of the sets of webs, there isprovided a special web-gage 92 at the center fastened to the plate 69 bymeans of a screw 94, and at the ends the web is guided by the regulargage in the fan-fold machine indicated by numeral 8l throughout theseveral views.

It will be noted that the folds of the webs are not slit by the usualcutters on the blades, but that the typed fan-:fold is severed from theweb as a folded unit, which is a preferable mode of operation for someclasses of Work; and that the elimination of the usual cutter bracketsfor short blades along the inner edges of the webs, renders thecarboncarriage universal for any Width of web or the joint use of twowebs side by side, by an interchange of the carbon-carrying blades.

frames at the outer ends of said base-plate, A

and carbon-blades of various lengths, each supported at one end on oneof said frames, the shorter of said bladesextending substantially halfthe distance between said frames While the longer of said blades extendsubstantially the entire distance between said frames.

2. In a machine for typing upon two .fan-

vfold webs which are placed 'in the machine carriage, of a frame on eachside thereof, and

a plurality of inwardly-extending carbon,

carrying blades, each blade detachably mounted at one'end upon one ofvsaid frames, said plurality of carbon-blades including long and shortblades, each long blade extendingv across thev web adjacent itssupporting frame and carrying a carbon at its outer end and interleavedbetween the plies of the other web, and each shorter blade carryingiacarbon interleaved between the plies of the web adjacent its supportingframe.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination with types and a carriagehaving means for presenting/and feeding fan-fold webs side by side to aplaten, of a double-width carboncarrier on said carriage, saidcarbon-carrier having at one side mounts for short and long bladesextending transversely of the carrier, and said carrier also having uponthe opposite side mounts for short and long blades extending oppositelytransversely of. the carrier, allv of said short and long bladescarrying carbons, some of the carbons being interleaved with the pliesofone web and other carbons being interleaved with the plies of the otherweb, the set of blades extending from one side of the carrier being at ahigher elevationthan those extending from the other side ofi-the carrierto give clearance, and the webs traveling A through the machine atcorrespondingly different elevations.

44. In a typewriting machine, the combination with types and a carriagehaving means for presenting and feeding fan-fold webs side by side to aplaten, of a double-width carbon-carrier on said carriage, saidcarbonc-arrier having-at one side mounts for short and longcarbon-blades extending transversely of the carrier, and said carrieralso having upon the opposite side mounts for short and longcarbon-blades extending oppositely 4transversely of the carrier, thelong blades on one mount cci-operating with the short blades on theother mount to form a tierA of web-supplying carbons at both sides ofthe carrier, one tier of carbons for each web.

5. In a typewriting machine, the combina.- tion with types and acarriage having means for presenting and feeding fan-fold webs side byside to av platen, of a. double-width carbon-carrier on said carriage,said carboncarrier havingat one side mounts for short and longcarbon-blades extending transversely of the carrier, and said carrieralso having upon the opposite side mounts for short and longcarbon-blades extending oppositely transversely of the carrier, the longblades on one mount interposed between the short blades on the othermount to form a set of carbon-supplying blades and interleaved as a setbetween the folds of a web.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combinao tion with types and a carriagehaving means `for presenting and feeding fan-fold websv carbon-carrieronsaid carriage, said carboncarrier having at one side mounts for shortand long carbon-blades extending transversely of the carrier, and saidcarrier also having upon the opposite side mounts for short and longcarbon-blades extending oppositely transversely of the carrier, the longblades on one mount interposed between the short .y

blades on the other mount to forma set of carbon-supplying blades andinterleaved as a set between the folds of a web, one set of.carbon-supplying blades disposed at a higher elevation than the otherset of blades to give. clearance between each web and the other set ofblades.

7. In a typewriting machine for presenting.

and feeding two unslit fan-fold webs side b-y side to a platen, thecombination with a double-width carbon-carriage having mounts at eachside of the carriage, of inwardly-projecting long and shortcarbon-carrying blades arranged in sets for supplying carbon tov eachweb, each carbon-blade secured aton'e end to one mount, the co-operationof alternate long vand short blades from each side mount being effectiveas a set to insert carbons within ea'ch web without slit-ting the foldsof the webs, the i and feeding two unslit fan-fold webs side by side toa platen, the combination with a dous ble-width carbon-carriage havingmounts at each side of the carriage, of inwardly-proj ecting long andshort carbon-carrying blades arranged in sets for supplying carbon toeach web, each carbon-blade secured at one end. to one mount, theco-operation of alternate long a`nd`short blades from. each sidev mountbeing effective as a set to insert carbons within eachl web withoutslit-ting the folds of the webs, one web raised to ra higher elevationthan the otherwweb to allow the long blades to bridge an adjacent web toreach the other web',

9. In a typewriting machine for presenting and feeding two unslitfan-fold webs side by side to a platen, the combination with adouble-width'l carbon-carriage having mounts at each side of thecarriage, of inwardly-projecting long and short carbon-carrying bladesarranged in sets for supplying carbon to each web, each carbon-bladesecured at one end to one-mount, the co-operation of alternate long andshort blades from each side mount being effective as a set to insertcarbons within each web without slitting the folds of the webs, one webraised to a higher elevation t-han the other web to allow one set oflong blades to pass over one webfand the other set of longblades to passunder the other web,

to avoid a web-slitting operation for the j blades.

JESSEk A. B. SMITH.

